Method and apparatus for cartridge-based carbonation of beverages

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods and cartridges for carbonating a precursor liquid, such as water, to form a beverage. A carbon dioxide source can be provided in a cartridge which is used to generate carbon dioxide gas that is dissolved into the precursor liquid. A beverage medium, such as a powdered drink mix or liquid syrup, may be provided in the same, or a separate cartridge as the carbon dioxide source and mixed with the precursor liquid to form a beverage. The use of one or more cartridges for the carbon dioxide source and/or beverage medium may make for an easy to use and mess-free system for making carbonated beverages, e.g., in the consumer&#39;s home.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application61/337,184, filed Feb. 1, 2010.

BACKGROUND

These inventions relate to carbonating liquids for use in preparing abeverage. Systems for carbonating liquids and/or mixing liquids with abeverage medium to form a beverage are described in a wide variety ofpublications, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,025,655, 4,040,342; 4,636,337;6,712,342 and 5,182,084; and PCT Publication WO 2008/124851.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Aspects of the invention relate to carbonating a precursor liquid, suchas water, to form a beverage. In some embodiments, a carbon dioxidesource can be provided in a cartridge which is used to generate carbondioxide gas that is dissolved into the precursor liquid. A beveragemedium, such as a powdered drink mix or liquid syrup, may be provided inthe same, or a separate cartridge as the carbon dioxide source and mixedwith the precursor liquid (either before or after carbonation) to form abeverage. The use of one or more cartridges for the carbon dioxidesource and/or beverage medium may make for an easy to use and mess-freesystem for making carbonated beverages, e.g., in the consumer's home.

In one aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes abeverage precursor liquid supply arranged to provide a precursor liquid,and a cartridge chamber arranged to hold first and second cartridgeportions. The cartridge chamber may have a single cartridge receivingportion for receiving one or more cartridges, or may include a pluralityof cartridge receiving portions that are separated from each other,e.g., for receiving two or more cartridges. If multiple receivingportions are provided, they may be opened and closed simultaneously orindependently of each other. A first cartridge portion may be providedin the cartridge chamber where the first cartridge portion contains acarbon dioxide source arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for use incarbonating the precursor liquid. In some embodiments, the carbondioxide source may include a charged molecular sieve, such as a zeolitethat is in solid form (e.g., pellets) and has adsorbed carbon dioxide,that releases carbon dioxide in the presence of water. A secondcartridge portion may be provided in the cartridge chamber where thesecond cartridge portion contains a beverage medium arranged to be mixedwith a liquid precursor to form a beverage. The system may be arrangedto carbonate the precursor liquid using the carbon dioxide gas emittedby the first cartridge portion and to mix the beverage medium of thesecond cartridge portion with the precursor liquid. The precursor liquidmay be carbonated in the first cartridge portion, or in one or moreother areas (such as a reservoir or membrane carbonator) to which carbondioxide is delivered. Mixing of the precursor liquid with beveragemedium may occur before or after carbonation, and may occur in thesecond cartridge portion or in another location, such as a mixingchamber separate from the second cartridge portion.

The system may include a carbon dioxide activating fluid supply arrangedto provide fluid to the cartridge chamber for contact with the carbondioxide source to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxidegas. For example, the carbon dioxide activating fluid supply may bearranged to control an amount of fluid (such as water in liquid or vaporform) provided to the cartridge chamber to control an amount of carbondioxide gas produced by the carbon dioxide source. This may allow thesystem to control a carbon dioxide gas pressure used to carbonate theprecursor liquid. Thus, the cartridge chamber may be arranged to hold atleast the first cartridge portion in the cartridge chamber under apressure that is greater than an ambient pressure. A carbon dioxide gassupply may be arranged to conduct carbon dioxide gas emitted by thecarbon dioxide source, under pressure greater than the ambient pressure,to beverage precursor liquid to carbonate the precursor liquid. Thecarbon dioxide may be conducted to a carbonation tank, a membranecontactor, or other suitable arrangement for carbonation. For example,the system may include a carbonator that includes a membrane thatseparates a liquid side from a gas side of the carbonator, where thecarbon dioxide gas is provided to the gas side and the beverageprecursor liquid supply provides precursor liquid to the liquid sidesuch that carbon dioxide on the gas side is dissolved in the precursorliquid on the liquid side. A pump may move precursor liquid from areservoir through the carbonator for subsequent discharge as a beverage,or the precursor liquid may be circulated back to the reservoir for oneor more additional passes through the carbonator.

In some embodiments, the system may mix the beverage medium withprecursor liquid to form a beverage such that none of the beveragecontacts the carbon dioxide source. However, in other embodiments, theprecursor liquid may contact the carbon dioxide source, e.g., where theliquid is passed through the first cartridge portion to be carbonated.The first and second cartridge portions may each be part of respectivefirst and second cartridges that are distinct from each other, or thecartridge portions may be part of a single cartridge. If part of asingle cartridge, the first and second cartridge portions may beseparated from each other, e.g., by a permeable element such as afilter, or an impermeable element such as a wall of the cartridge thatmay or may not be frangible, burstable (such as by suitable pressure),piercable or otherwise breached to allow the first and second cartridgeportions to communicate with each other. A cartridge associated with thefirst and second cartridge portions may be pierced while in thecartridge chamber to allow access to the first and second portions. Forexample, if the cartridge portions are in separate cartridges, the twocartridges may be pierced by closing of the cartridge chamber to allowfluid to be provided to and/or gas to exit from the first cartridgeportion, and to allow the beverage medium to exit the second cartridgeportion whether alone or with a mixed precursor liquid.

In some embodiments, the first and cartridge portions may each have avolume that is less than a volume of carbonated beverage to be formedusing the cartridge portions. This can provide a significant advantageby allowing a user to form a relatively large volume beverage using arelative small volume cartridge or cartridges. For example, the systemmay be arranged to use the first and second cartridge portions over aperiod of time less than about 120 seconds to form a carbonated liquidhaving a volume of between 100-1000 ml and a carbonation level of about2 to 4 volumes. Carbonation may occur at pressures between 20-50 psi, ormore. The cartridge portions in this embodiment may have a volume ofabout 50 ml or less, reducing an amount of waste and/or adding toconvenience of the system.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverageincludes providing first and second cartridge portions in a cartridgechamber where the first cartridge portion contains a carbon dioxidesource arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for use in carbonating aliquid, and the second cartridge portion contains a beverage mediumarranged to be mixed with a liquid precursor to form a beverage. Afluid, such as water in liquid or vapor form, may be provided to thecartridge chamber to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbondioxide, and a precursor liquid may be carbonated by dissolving at leasta portion of the carbon dioxide emitted from the carbon dioxide sourcein the precursor liquid. The precursor liquid may be mixed with abeverage medium to produce a beverage, either before or aftercarbonation.

As noted above, the carbon dioxide source may be in solid form in thefirst cartridge portion, e.g., including a charged zeolite. An amount offluid provided to the first cartridge portion may be controlled tocontrol carbon dioxide gas production by the carbon dioxide source,e.g., to maintain a pressure of gas produced by the carbon dioxidesource to be within a desired range above an ambient pressure. In oneembodiment, the carbon dioxide source includes a charged zeolite, and anamount of fluid provided to the cartridge chamber is controlled so as tocause the charged zeolite to emit carbon dioxide over a period of atleast 30 seconds or more.

Carbonation of the precursor liquid may include providing carbon dioxidegas to a reservoir that contains precursor liquid, providing carbondioxide to a gas side of a membrane such that carbon dioxide on the gasside is dissolved in the precursor liquid on a liquid side of themembrane, spraying precursor liquid in a carbon dioxide-filled space,passing the precursor liquid through the first cartridge portion underpressure, and so on.

As mentioned above, the first and second cartridge portions may each bepart of respective first and second cartridges that are distinct fromeach other, or the cartridge portions may be part of a single cartridge.If part of a single cartridge, the first and second cartridge portionsmay be separated from each other, e.g., by a cartridge wall. Mixing ofthe precursor liquid may occur before or after carbonation, and mayoccur in the second cartridge portion or in another location, such as amixing chamber separate from the second cartridge portion.

In one embodiment, the steps of providing a fluid and carbonating may beperformed over a period of time less than about 120 seconds (e.g., about60 seconds) and using a gas pressure of 20-50 psi to form a carbonatedliquid having a volume of between 100-1000 ml (e.g., about 500 ml) and acarbonation level of about 2 to 4 volumes. Thus, systems and methodsaccording to this aspect may produce a relatively highly carbonatedbeverage is a relatively short period of time, and without requiringhigh pressures.

In another aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes abeverage precursor liquid supply for providing a precursor liquid, acartridge chamber arranged to hold a cartridge, and a cartridgeincluding an internal space containing a carbon dioxide source. Thecarbon dioxide source may be arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for usein carbonating the precursor liquid, e.g., in response to contact with afluid, such as water or other activating agent. A carbon dioxideactivating fluid supply may be arranged to provide fluid to thecartridge chamber for contact with the carbon dioxide source to causethe carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas, and the activatingfluid supply may be arranged to control an amount of fluid provided tothe cartridge chamber to control an amount of carbon dioxide gas emittedby the carbon dioxide source, e.g., to control a pressure in thecartridge chamber or other area. A carbon dioxide gas supply may bearranged to conduct carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxidesource, under pressure greater than the ambient pressure, to precursorliquid provided via the beverage precursor liquid supply to carbonatethe precursor liquid. The ability to control carbon dioxide gasproduction, and thus pressure, in a relatively simple way of controllingfluid flow into the cartridge chamber, may provide advantages of asimple control and system operation.

The beverage precursor liquid supply may include a reservoir thatcontains precursor liquid, a carbonator that includes a membrane thatseparates a liquid side from a gas side of the carbonator, a pump thatmoves precursor liquid from the reservoir through the carbonator orother portion of the system, one or more filters or other liquidtreatment devices, and so on. The cartridge chamber may be arranged tohold the cartridge in the chamber under a pressure that is greater thanan ambient pressure, e.g., within a pressure range that is suitable forcarbonating the precursor liquid. In some embodiments, gas pressure usedfor carbonation may be between about 20 and 50 psi, although higher (andlower) pressures are possible.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverageincludes providing a cartridge having an internal space that is sealedto enclose a carbon dioxide source in the internal space, providingfluid to the cartridge to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbondioxide, controlling an amount of fluid provided to the cartridge over aperiod of time to control an amount of carbon dioxide gas emitted by thecarbon dioxide source during the period of time, and carbonating aprecursor liquid by dissolving at least a portion of the carbon dioxideemitted from the carbon dioxide source in the precursor liquid. Theprecursor liquid may be mixed with a beverage medium to produce abeverage, either before or after carbonation, whether in a cartridge orother area. In one embodiment, the cartridge may be pierced using abeverage making machine to provide liquid to the cartridge. As with theembodiments above, the liquid may be carbonated in the cartridge orother area, such as a carbonator or reservoir, the cartridge may includea second portion that includes the beverage medium (or a secondcartridge may be used with the beverage medium), and so on.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a carbonatedbeverage includes providing a cartridge having an internal space that issealed to enclose a carbon dioxide source in the internal space wherethe carbon dioxide source is in solid form, opening the cartridge (suchas by piercing) and causing the carbon dioxide source to emit carbondioxide, and carbonating a liquid by dissolving at least a portion ofthe carbon dioxide emitted from the carbon dioxide source in the liquid.The liquid may be mixed with a beverage medium by passing the liquidthrough a cartridge chamber that contains the beverage medium to producea beverage. By mixing the liquid with beverage medium in a cartridge,the need for a separate mixing chamber may be avoided, and flavorcontamination between consecutively made beverages may be reduced(because the cartridge serves as the mixing chamber and is used onlyonce).

In one embodiment, the cartridge that encloses the carbon dioxide sourcealso includes the cartridge chamber that contains the beverage medium.For example, liquid may be introduced into a first portion of thecartridge where the carbon dioxide source is located for carbonation,and pass from the first portion to a second portion where the beveragemedium is located. In another embodiment, the cartridge chamber whereliquid is mixed with beverage medium may be part of a second cartridgeseparate from the cartridge that encloses the carbon dioxide source.

Carbon dioxide gas from the cartridge may be routed to an area where thecarbon dioxide gas is dissolved in the liquid, e.g., to a membranecontactor, a reservoir that holds a substantial portion of the liquid,or other arrangement. A pressure of the carbon dioxide may be controlledby controlling an amount of fluid provided to the cartridge. As withother aspects of the invention, various embodiments and optionalfeatures described herein may be used with this aspect of the invention.

In another aspect of the invention, a kit for forming a beverageincludes a first cartridge having an internal space that is sealed andcontains a carbon dioxide source in the internal space. The carbondioxide source may be in solid form and arranged to emit carbon dioxidegas for use in carbonating a precursor liquid. The first cartridge maybe arranged to have an inlet through which fluid is provided to activatethe carbon dioxide source and an outlet through which carbon dioxide gasexits the first cartridge. For example, the first cartridge may bepierced to form the inlet and outlet, or the first cartridge may have adefined inlet/outlet. A second cartridge of the kit may include aninternal space that is sealed and contains a beverage medium for use inmixing with the precursor liquid to form a beverage. The secondcartridge may be arranged to mix a precursor liquid with the beveragemedium in the second cartridge, and thus may be pierceable or otherwisearranged to allow inlet of liquid and outlet of mixed liquid/beveragemedium. The first and second cartridges may each have a volume that isless than a volume of beverage to be formed using the first and secondcartridges, e.g., the cartridge may have a volume of about 50 ml and beused to make a beverage having a volume of about 500 ml. The first andsecond cartridges may be joined together, e.g., such that the cartridgescannot be separated from each other, without use of tools, withoutdamaging at least a portion of the first or second cartridge. In oneembodiment, the first and second cartridges may be joined by a weldedjoint or by interlocking mechanical fasteners.

In another aspect of the invention, a cartridge for forming a beverageincludes a container having an internal space that is sealed andcontains a carbon dioxide source in the internal space. The carbondioxide source may be in solid form (such as a charged zeolite or othermolecular sieve) and arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for use incarbonating a precursor liquid. The container may be arranged to have aninlet through which fluid is provided to activate the carbon dioxidesource and an outlet through which carbon dioxide gas exits thecontainer for use in carbonating the precursor liquid. In oneembodiment, the container may be pierceable by a beverage making machineto form the inlet and to form the outlet, e.g., at the top, bottom, sideand/or other locations of the cartridge. In one arrangement, thecontainer may include a lid that is pierceable by a beverage machine toform both the inlet and outlet. The container may have at least oneportion that is semi-rigid or flexible, e.g., that is not suitable towithstand a pressure over about 80 psi inside the cartridge withoutphysical support. The container may include a second chamber thatcontains a beverage medium for use in flavoring the precursor liquid toform a beverage, and the second chamber may be isolated from a firstchamber in which the carbon dioxide source is contained. The containermay have a volume that is less than a volume of carbonated beverage tobe formed using the cartridge.

In another aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes acartridge chamber arranged to hold a cartridge under a pressure that isgreater than an ambient pressure, and a cartridge including an internalspace containing a carbon dioxide source arranged to emit carbon dioxidegas for use in carbonating a liquid. The cartridge may have a volumethat is less than a volume of beverage to be created using thecartridge, e.g., a volume of 50 ml or less for use in carbonating avolume of liquid of about 100-1000 ml to a carbonation level of about 2to 4 volumes. A beverage precursor liquid supply may provide precursorliquid into the internal space of the cartridge to cause the carbondioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas and cause at least some of thecarbon dioxide gas to be dissolved in the precursor liquid while in theinternal space. Carbonating the liquid in a cartridge chamber cansimplify system operation, e.g., by eliminating the need for carbonationtanks or other carbonators. Instead, the cartridge may function as acarbonator, at least in part. In one embodiment, the cartridge includesa second chamber that contains a beverage medium for use in mixing withthe precursor liquid to form a beverage. The second chamber may beisolated from a first chamber in which the carbon dioxide source iscontained, or the first and second chamber may communicate, e.g., liquidmay be introduced into the first chamber to be carbonated and pass fromthe first chamber to the second chamber where the beverage medium islocated.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverageincludes providing a cartridge having an internal space that is sealedto enclose a carbon dioxide source in the internal space where thecartridge has a volume that is less than a volume of beverage to becreated using the cartridge. Liquid may be provided into the cartridgeto cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbon dioxide, and theliquid may be carbonated by dissolving at least a portion of the carbondioxide emitted from the carbon dioxide source in the liquid while theliquid is in the cartridge. The liquid may be mixed with a beveragemedium to produce a beverage, either before or after carbonation in thecartridge. In fact, the cartridge may include a second chamber thatcontains a beverage medium for use in mixing with the precursor liquidto form a beverage, and the cartridge may have a volume that is lessthan a beverage to be made using the cartridge. The cartridge may bepierced using a beverage making machine to form an inlet and an outlet.

In another aspect of the invention, a beverage making system includes abeverage precursor liquid supply, a cartridge chamber arranged to hold acartridge in a chamber, and a cartridge including an internal spacecontaining a carbon dioxide source that is in solid form and is arrangedto emit carbon dioxide gas for use in carbonating a liquid. A carbondioxide activating fluid supply may provide liquid to the cartridgechamber for contact with the carbon dioxide source to cause the carbondioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas. The system may also include acarbonator that has a membrane that separates a liquid side from a gasside, where the carbon dioxide gas emitted by the cartridge is providedto the gas side and the beverage precursor liquid supply providesprecursor liquid to the liquid side such that carbon dioxide on the gasside is dissolved in the precursor liquid on the liquid side. Thecartridge chamber may be arranged to hold the cartridge in the chamberunder a pressure that is greater than an ambient pressure, e.g., withina pressure range used to carbonate the liquid in the carbonator. Acarbon dioxide gas supply may be arranged to conduct carbon dioxide gasemitted by the carbon dioxide source, under pressure greater than theambient pressure, from the cartridge chamber to the gas side of thecarbonator. The membrane of the carbonator may include a plurality ofhollow fibers where an interior of the hollow fibers is part of theliquid side and an exterior of the hollow fibers is part of the gasside.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for forming a beverageincludes providing a cartridge having an internal space that is sealedto enclose a carbon dioxide source in the internal space that is insolid form and arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas, opening thecartridge (such as by piercing) and causing the cartridge to emit carbondioxide gas, and carbonating the liquid by dissolving at least a portionof the carbon dioxide gas emitted from the carbon dioxide source in aliquid. The carbon dioxide gas may be located on a gas side of amembrane and the liquid being located on a liquid side of the membrane.The membrane may be formed by a plurality of hollow fibers where theliquid side is located at an interior of the fibers and the gas side isat an exterior of the fibers. A gas pressure at the gas side may becontrolled based on controlling an amount of liquid provided to thecartridge.

These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the invention are described with reference to the followingdrawings in which like numerals reference like elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a illustrative embodiment of a beverage making systemhaving a removable reservoir;

FIG. 2 shows a illustrative embodiment of a beverage making systemhaving a contactor arranged to circulate precursor liquid;

FIG. 3 shows a illustrative embodiment of a beverage making system inwhich liquid is carbonated in a single pass through a carbonator;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative embodiment of a beverage making system inwhich a gas cartridge is located in a carbonation reservoir;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative embodiment of a cartridge chamber;

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative embodiment of gas and beverage mediumcartridges joined together;

FIGS. 7 and 8 shown perspective and top views, respectively, of gas andbeverage medium cartridges;

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative embodiment of a cartridge arranged tocarbonate a liquid in the cartridge;

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative embodiment of a cartridge arranged tocarbonate a liquid in the cartridge in an alternative orientation; and

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative embodiment of a cartridge having isolatedchambers containing a gas source and a beverage medium.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood that aspects of the invention are describedherein with reference to the figures, which show illustrativeembodiments. The illustrative embodiments described herein are notnecessarily intended to show all embodiments in accordance with theinvention, but rather are used to describe a few illustrativeembodiments. Thus, aspects of the invention are not intended to beconstrued narrowly in view of the illustrative embodiments. In addition,it should be understood that aspects of the invention may be used aloneor in any suitable combination with other aspects of the invention.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a fluid (such as water,water vapor, or other) may be provided to a carbon dioxide source in acartridge so as to cause the carbon dioxide source to emit carbondioxide gas that is used to carbonate a liquid. In one embodiment,beverage forming machine may include a carbon dioxide activating fluidsupply arranged to provide fluid to a cartridge chamber for contact withthe carbon dioxide source so as to cause the carbon dioxide source toemit carbon dioxide gas. A carbon dioxide gas supply of the machine maybe arranged to conduct carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxidesource, under pressure greater than the ambient pressure, to a precursorliquid to carbonate the precursor liquid. In some embodiments, thecarbon dioxide source may be in solid form, such as a zeolite, activatedcarbon or other molecular sieve that is charged with carbon dioxide, andthe use of a cartridge may not only isolate the carbon dioxide sourcefrom activating agents (such as water vapor in the case of a chargedzeolite), but also potentially eliminate the need for a user to touch orotherwise directly handle the carbon dioxide source.

Having a carbon dioxide activating fluid supply may enable the use ofanother aspect of the invention, i.e., a volume or other measure of thefluid provided to the cartridge may be controlled to control the rate oramount of carbon dioxide that produced by the carbon dioxide source.This feature can make the use of some carbon dioxide sources, such as acharged zeolite material, possible. For example, zeolites charged withcarbon dioxide tend to release carbon dioxide very rapidly and inrelatively large quantities (e.g., a 30 gram mass of charged zeolite caneasily produce 1-2 liters of carbon dioxide gas at atmospheric pressurein a few seconds in the presence of less than 30-50 ml of water). Thisrapid release can in some circumstances make the use of zeolitesimpractical for producing relatively highly carbonated liquids, such asa carbonated water that is carbonated to a level of 2 volumes or more.(A carbonation “volume” refers to the number of volume measures ofcarbon dioxide gas that is dissolved in a given volume measure ofliquid. For example, a 1 liter amount of “2 volume” carbonated waterincludes a 1 liter volume of water that has 2 liters of carbon dioxidegas dissolved in it. Similarly, a 1 liter amount of “4 volume”carbonated water includes a 1 liter volume of water that has 4 liters ofcarbon dioxide dissolved in it. The gas volume measure is the gas volumethat could be released from the carbonated liquid at atmospheric orambient pressure and room temperature.) That is, dissolution of carbondioxide or other gases in liquids typically takes a certain amount oftime, and the rate of dissolution can only be increased a limited amountunder less than extreme conditions, such as pressures within about 150psi of ambient and temperatures within about +/−40 to 50 degrees C. ofroom temperature. By controlling the rate of carbon dioxide productionfor a carbon dioxide source, the total time over which the carbondioxide source emits carbon dioxide can be extended, allowing time forthe carbon dioxide to be dissolved without requiring relatively highpressures. For example, when employing one illustrative embodimentincorporating one or more aspects of the invention, the inventors haveproduced liquids having at least up to about 3.5 volume carbonationlevels in less than 60 seconds, at pressures under about 40 psi, and attemperatures around 0 degrees Celsius. This capability allows for acarbonated beverage machine to operate at relatively modest temperaturesand pressures, potentially eliminating the need for relatively expensivehigh pressure tanks, conduits and other components, as well as extensivepressure releases, containment structures and other safety features thatmight otherwise be required, particularly for a machine to be used inthe consumer's home.

In another aspect of the invention, a portion of a precursor liquid thatis used to form a beverage may be used to activate the carbon dioxidesource. This feature may help simplify operation of a beverage makingmachine, e.g., by eliminating the need for special activationsubstances. As a result, a beverage making machine, or a method offorming a beverage, may be made less expensively and/or without specialpurpose ingredients. For example, in the case of a machine makingcarbonated water, all that is needed to activate the carbon dioxidesource may be a portion of the water used to form the beverage. Itshould be understood, however, that other aspects of the invention neednot require the use of a portion of precursor liquid to activate acarbon dioxide source, and instead may use any suitable activatingagent, such as a citric acid in aqueous form that is added to abicarbonate material. For example, the cartridge that includes thecarbon dioxide source may include (as part of the source), an activatingagent whose addition to another component of the carbon dioxide sourceis controlled to control carbon dioxide production.

FIG. 1 shows one illustrative embodiment that incorporates at least theaspects of providing a fluid to a cartridge and/or cartridge chamber toactivate a carbon dioxide source, as well as controlling the fluid flowto control carbon dioxide production, and the use of a portion ofbeverage precursor liquid to activate a carbon dioxide source. Thebeverage making system 1 of FIG. 1 includes a beverage precursor liquid2 that is contained in a reservoir 11. The beverage precursor liquid 2can be any suitable liquid, including water (e.g., flavored or otherwisetreated water, such as sweetened, filtered, deionized, softened,carbonated, etc.), or any other suitable liquid used to form a beverage,such as milk, juice, coffee, tea, etc. (whether heated or cooledrelative to room temperature or not). The reservoir 11 is part of abeverage precursor supply 10, which also includes a lid 12 that engageswith the reservoir 11 to form a sealed enclosure, a pump 13 to circulatethe precursor liquid 2, and a nozzle, showerhead or other component 14that serves to disperse the precursor liquid 2 in a headspace in thereservoir 11. Of course, the precursor supply 10 may be arranged inother ways, e.g., to include additional or different components. Forexample, the reservoir 11 and lid 12 may be replaced with a closed tankthat has suitable inlet/outlet ports, the pump 13 and/or nozzle 14 maybe eliminated, and or other changes.

In this embodiment, the reservoir 11 is initially provided with theprecursor liquid 2 by a user, who provides the liquid 2 in the reservoir11, e.g., from a water tap or other source. The user may also provideice or other cooling medium in the reservoir 11 as desired, so as tocool the ultimate beverage made. In other embodiments, the system 1 mayinclude a refrigeration system or other cooling system (such as thatfound in refrigerators, air conditioning units, thermoelectric coolingunits, or other devices used to remove heat from a material) to cool theliquid 2. In some arrangements, cooling the precursor liquid 2 may helpthe carbonation process, e.g., because cooler liquids tend to dissolvecarbon dioxide or other gas more rapidly and/or are capable ofdissolving larger amounts of gas. However, in one aspect of theinvention, a carbonated liquid may be cooled after the carbonationprocess is complete, e.g., just before discharge using a flow throughchiller. This feature may allow the system 1 to chill only the beverage,and not other portions of the system, such as the reservoir 11,carbonator, pump, etc., reducing the heat output by the system 1.Although a user initially provides the beverage precursor liquid 2 inthe reservoir 11, the precursor supply 10 may include other componentsto provide liquid 2 to the reservoir 11, such as a plumbed water line,controllable valve, and liquid level sensor to automatically fill thereservoir 11 to a desired level, a second water reservoir or other tankthat is fluidly connected to the reservoir 11 (e.g., such as a removablewater tank found with some coffee making machines along with a pump andconduit to route water from the removable tank to the reservoir 11), andother arrangements.

The beverage making system 1 also includes a carbon dioxide activatingfluid supply 20 that provides a fluid to a cartridge 4 so as to activatea carbon dioxide source 41 to release carbon dioxide gas. In thisembodiment, the carbon dioxide source 41 is located in a portion of thecartridge 4 and includes a charged adsorbent or molecular sieve, e.g., azeolite material that has adsorbed some amount of carbon dioxide gasthat is released in the presence of water, whether in vapor or liquidform. Of course, other carbon dioxide source materials may be used, suchas charcoal or other molecular sieve materials, or source materials thatgenerate carbon dioxide by chemical means, such as sodium bicarbonateand citric acid (with the addition of water if the bicarbonate and acidare initially in dry form), or others. In addition, aspects of theinvention are not necessarily limited to use with carbon dioxide gas,but may be used with any suitable gas, such as nitrogen, which isdissolved in some beers or other beverages. In one embodiment, thecharged adsorbent is a zeolite such as analcime, chabazite,clinoptilolite, heulandite, natrolite, phillipsite, or stilbite. Thezeolite may be naturally occurring or synthetic, and may be capable ofholding up to about 20% carbon dioxide by weight or more. The zeolitematerial may be arranged in any suitable form, such as a solid block(e.g., in disc form), particles of spherical, cubic, irregular or othersuitable shape, and others. An arrangement that allows the zeolite toflow or be flowable, e.g., spherical particles, may be useful forpackaging the zeolite in individual cartridges. Such an arrangement mayallow the zeolite to flow from a hopper into a cartridge container, forexample, simplifying the manufacturing process. The surface area of thezeolite particles may also be arranged to help control the rate at whichthe zeolite releases carbon dioxide gas, since higher surface areameasures typically increase the gas production rate. Generally, zeolitematerials will release adsorbed carbon dioxide in the presence of waterin liquid or vapor form, allowing the zeolite to be activated to releasecarbon dioxide gas by the addition of liquid water to the zeolite.

The carbon dioxide activating fluid supply 20 in this embodimentincludes a conduit that is fluidly coupled to the pump 13 and a valve 21that can be controlled to open/close or otherwise control the flow ofprecursor liquid 2 into the cartridge 4. As can be seen, circulation ofthe liquid 2 by the pump 13 can allow the activating fluid supply 20 todivert some (e.g., a first portion) of the precursor liquid 2 to thecartridge chamber 3 to cause the creation of carbon dioxide gas, e.g.,by opening the valve 21. Other arrangements or additions are possiblefor the carbon dioxide activating fluid supply 20, such as a suitablysized orifice in the conduit leading from the pump 13 outlet to thecartridge 4, a pressure-reducing element in the conduit, aflow-restrictor in the conduit, a flow meter to indicate an amountand/or flow rate of liquid into the cartridge 4, and so on. In additionthe liquid source 20 need not use precursor liquid 2 to activate thecarbon dioxide source 41, but instead may use a dedicated source offluid for activation. For example, the carbon dioxide activating fluidsupply 20 may include a syringe, piston pump or other positivedisplacement device that can meter desired amounts of liquid (whetherwater, citric acid or other material) that are delivered to thecartridge 4. In another embodiment, the activating fluid supply 20 mayinclude a gravity fed liquid supply that has a controllable deliveryrate, e.g., like the drip-type liquid supply systems used withintravenous lines for providing liquids to hospital patients, or mayspray atomized water or other liquid to provide a water vapor or othergas phase activating fluid to the cartridge 4. Moreover, although FIG. 1suggests that the activating fluid supply 20 provides liquid to a top ofthe cartridge 4, the liquid source 20 may provide the fluid to a bottomof the cartridge 4, e.g., to flood the bottom of the cartridge, or othersuitable location. It is also conceivable that an activating liquid canbe provided in the cartridge with the carbon dioxide source 42, e.g., ina chamber that is pierced to allow contact of the liquid with the source42.

In accordance with one embodiment, the cartridge 4 (having one or moreportions) may be located in a cartridge chamber 3 during carbon dioxideproduction. As a result, the cartridge 4 may be made of a relativelyflexible material or otherwise constructed so that the cartridge 4cannot withstand a relatively high pressure gradient between theinterior and exterior of the cartridge 4. That is, the cartridge chamber3 may contain any pressure generated by the carbon dioxide source 41 andsupport the cartridge 4 as necessary. In this illustrative embodiment,the cartridge 4 is contained in a closed and sealed chamber 3 that has aspace or gap surrounding all or most of the cartridge 4. The pressurebetween the interior space of the cartridge 4 and the exterior of thecartridge 4 is allowed to equalize, e.g., by allowing some of the gasemitted by the carbon dioxide source 41 to “leak” into the space aroundthe cartridge 4, and so even if the cartridge 4 is made of a relativelysemi-rigid, flexible or weak material, the cartridge 4 will not burst orcollapse. In alternate arrangements, the cartridge 4 may be made to fita receiving space in the cartridge chamber 3 so that the chamber 3supports the cartridge 4 when pressure is built up inside the cartridge4. This support may be suitable to prevent the cartridge 4 from burstingor otherwise preventing the cartridge 4 from functioning as desired. Inyet other embodiments, the cartridge 4 may be made suitably robust(either in whole or in part) so as to withstand relatively highpressures (e.g., 1 atm or more) in the cartridge interior space. In sucha case, the cartridge chamber 3 need not function as much more than aphysical support to hold the cartridge 4 in place or otherwise establisha connection to the cartridge for gas output by the cartridge 4 and/orliquid supply to the cartridge 4. In another embodiment, the cartridgemay be mechanically robust enough to withstand pressures up to 90 psig,e.g., like a conventional carbonated soft drink can.

A carbon dioxide gas supply 30 may be arranged to provide carbon dioxidegas from the cartridge chamber 3 to an area where the gas is used tocarbonate the liquid 2. The gas supply 30 may be arranged in anysuitable way, and in this illustrative embodiment includes a conduit 31that is fluidly connected between the cartridge chamber 3 and thereservoir 11, and a filter 32 that helps to remove materials that maycontaminate the precursor liquid 2, such as particles from the carbondioxide source 41. The gas supply 30 may include other components, suchas pressure regulators, safety valves, control valves, a compressor orpump (e.g., to increase a pressure of the gas), an accumulator (e.g., tohelp maintain a relatively constant gas pressure and/or store gas), andso on. In this embodiment, the conduit 31 extends below the surface ofthe precursor liquid 2 in the reservoir 11 so that the carbon dioxidegas is injected into the liquid 2 for dissolution. The conduit 31 mayinclude a sparging nozzle or other arrangement to aid in dissolution,e.g., by creating relatively small gas bubbles in the liquid 2 toincrease the dissolution rate. Alternately, the conduit 31 may deliverthe gas to a headspace (if present) in the reservoir 11 rather thanbelow the surface of the liquid 2.

Carbonation of the precursor liquid 2 may occur via one or moremechanisms or processes, and thus is not limited to one particularprocess. For example, while carbon dioxide gas delivered by the conduit31 to the reservoir 11 may function to help dissolve carbon dioxide inthe liquid 2, other system components may further aid in the carbonationprocess. In this illustrative embodiment, the precursor supply 10 mayassist in carbonating the liquid by circulating the liquid via the pump13 and the nozzle 14. That is, liquid 2 may be drawn from the reservoir13 via a dip tube 15 and sprayed by the nozzle 14 into a carbondioxide-filled headspace in the reservoir 11. As is known in the art,this process can help the liquid 2 to dissolve carbon dioxide gas, e.g.,by increasing the surface area of liquid 2 exposed to gas. While in thisembodiment the dip tube 15 is separate from the reservoir 11 and extendsbelow the surface of the precursor liquid 2, the dip tube 15 may bearranged in other ways, such as being made integrally with the wall ofthe reservoir 11. If the dip tube 15 is made integrally with thereservoir 11, connecting the reservoir 11 to the lid 12 may establish afluid connection between the dip tube 15 and the pump 13. Forming thedip tube 15 integrally with the reservoir 11 may allow the system 1 toaccommodate differently sized (and thus different volume) reservoirs 11.In addition, this arrangement may help ensure that only suitablyconfigured reservoirs 11 (e.g., a container arranged to withstand systempressures) is used. Alternately, the dip tube 15 could be made flexibleor otherwise accommodate reservoirs 11 having a different height.Whether integral with the reservoir 11 or not, the dip tube 15 mayinclude a filter, strainer or other arrangement to help prevent smallparticles, such as ice chips, from being drawn into the pump 13. In someembodiments, the reservoirs 11 can function as a drinking glass as wellas a reservoir 11 in the system 1. That is, a user may provide areservoir/drinking glass 11 to the system 1 (e.g., including a desiredamount of water, ice and/or beverage medium), and after carbonation iscomplete, use the reservoir/drinking glass 11 to enjoy the beverage. Thereservoir 11 may be insulated, e.g., to help keep a beverage cold, aswell as made to withstand suitable pressures experienced in use with thesystem 1.

The various components of the system 1 may be controlled by a controller5, which may include a programmed general purpose computer and/or otherdata processing device along with suitable software or other operatinginstructions, one or more memories (including non-transient storagemedia that may store software and/or other operating instructions), apower supply for the controller 5 and/or other system components,temperature and liquid level sensors, pressure sensors, RFIDinterrogation devices, input/output interfaces (e.g., to displayinformation to a user and/or receive input from a user), communicationbuses or other links, a display, switches, relays, triacs, motors,mechanical linkages and/or actuators, or other components necessary toperform desired input/output or other functions. In this illustrativeembodiment, the controller 5 controls the operation of the valve 21 ofthe activating fluid supply 20 as well as the pump 13 of the precursorliquid supply 10. Also shown in FIG. 1 is a sensor 51, which mayrepresent one or more sensors used by the controller 5. For example, thesensor 51 may include a temperature sensor that detects the temperatureof the precursor liquid in the reservoir 11. This information may beused to control system operation, e.g., warmer precursor liquidtemperatures may cause the controller 5 to increase an amount of timeallowed for carbon dioxide gas to be dissolved in the precursor liquid2. In other arrangements, the temperature of the precursor liquid 2 maybe used to determine whether the system 1 will be operated to carbonatethe liquid 2 or not. For example, in some arrangements, the user may berequired to add suitably cold liquid 2 (and/or ice) to the reservoir 11before the system 1 will operate. (As discussed above, relatively warmprecursor liquid 2 temperatures may cause the liquid to beinsufficiently carbonated in some conditions.) In another embodiment,the sensor 51 may include a pressure sensor used to detect a pressure inthe reservoir 11. This information may be used to determine whether thereservoir 11 is improperly sealed to the lid 12 or another pressure leakis present, and/or to determine whether sufficient carbon dioxide gas isbeing produced by the cartridge 4. For example, low detected pressuremay cause the controller 5 to allow more liquid to be delivered by theactivating fluid supply 20 to the cartridge 4, or prompt the user tocheck that the reservoir 11 is properly engaged with the lid 12.Likewise, high pressures may cause the flow of liquid from theactivating fluid supply 20 to be slowed or stopped. Thus, the controller5 can control the gas pressure in the reservoir 11 and/or other areas ofthe system 1 by controlling an amount of liquid delivered to thecartridge 4 and/or the cartridge chamber 3. The sensor 51 mayalternately, or additionally, detect that the reservoir 11 is in place,and/or whether the reservoir 11 is properly engaged with the lid 12. Forexample, a switch may be closed when the reservoir 11 is properly seatedon a seal of the lid 12, indicating proper engagement. In anotherarrangement, the reservoir 11 may include an RFID tag or otherelectronic device that is capable of communicating its identity or othercharacteristics of the reservoir 11 to the controller 5. Thisinformation may be used to confirm whether the reservoir 11 is suitablefor use with the system 1, to control certain operating conditions(e.g., an operating pressure may be limited based on the type ofreservoir used, the precursor liquid may be carbonated to a level thatcorresponds to the reservoir 11, and so on), and/or for other uses. Thesensor 51 could also detect the presence of a cartridge 4 in the chamber3, e.g., via RFID tag, optical recognition, physical sensing, etc. If nocartridge 4 is detected, or the controller 5 detects that the cartridge4 is spent, the controller 5 may prompt the user to insert a new ordifferent cartridge 4. For example, in some embodiments, a singlecartridge 4 may be used to carbonate multiple volumes of precursorliquid 2. The controller 5 may keep track of the number of times thatthe cartridge 4 has been used, and once a limit has been reached (e.g.,10 drinks), prompt the user to replace the cartridge. Other parametersmay be detected by the sensor 51, such as a carbonation level of theprecursor liquid 2, the presence of a suitable vessel to receive abeverage discharged from the system 1 (e.g., to prevent beverage frombeing spilled), the presence of water or other precursor liquid 2 in thereservoir 11 or elsewhere in the precursor supply 10, a flow rate ofliquid in the pump 13 or associated conduit, the presence of a headspacein the reservoir 11 (e.g., if no headspace is desired, a valve may beactivated to discharge the headspace gas, or if only carbon dioxide isdesired to be in the headspace, a sniffing valve may be activated todischarge air in the headspace and replace the air with carbon dioxide),and so on.

To cause the beverage making system 1 to create a carbonated beverage, auser may first provide a desired amount of precursor liquid 2 in thereservoir 11, along with optional ice and/or a beverage medium.Alternately, the carbonated liquid may be flavored after carbonation iscomplete either by automated or manual means. The reservoir 11 is thenengaged with the lid 12, such as by engaging a screw thread on thereservoir 11 with the lid 12, activating a clamp mechanism, or other. Acartridge 4 containing a carbon dioxide source 41 (e.g., in solid form,such as a charged zeolite) may be placed in the cartridge chamber 3 andthe chamber 3 closed. The cartridge chamber 3 may operate in anysuitable way, e.g., like that found in many cartridge-based coffee orother beverage machines. For example, a manual lever may be operated tolift a lid of the chamber 3, exposing a cartridge receiver portion ofthe chamber 3. With the cartridge 4 in the chamber 3, the lever may beagain activated to close the lid, sealing the chamber 3 closed. Thecontroller 5 may then activate the system 1 to deliver liquid to thechamber 3, e.g., to cause carbon dioxide to be generated. The controller5 may start operation in an automated way, e.g., based on detecting thepresence of a cartridge 4 in the chamber 3, liquid 2 in the reservoir 11and closure of the chamber 3. Alternately, the controller 5 may startsystem operation in response to a user pressing a start button orotherwise providing input (e.g., by voice activation) to start beveragepreparation. The controller 5 may start operation of the pump 13,drawing liquid from the dip tube 15 and discharging the liquid 2 at thenozzle 14. The valve 21 may be opened to deliver a suitable portion ofthe precursor liquid 2 to the chamber 3, and carbon dioxide gas createdmay be provided to the reservoir 11 by the gas supply 30. Operation maycontinue for a preset amount of time, or based on other conditions, suchas a detected level of carbonation, a drop in gas production by thecartridge 4, or other parameters. During operation, the amount of liquidprovided to the chamber 3 may be controlled to control gas output by thecartridge 4. Control of the liquid provided to the cartridge 4 may bemade based on a timing sequence (e.g., the valve 21 may be opened for aperiod of time, followed by valve closure for a period, and so on),based on detected pressure (e.g., liquid supply may be stopped when thepressure in the chamber 3 and/or reservoir 11 exceeds a threshold, andresume when the pressure falls below the threshold or another value),based on a volume of activating liquid delivered to the chamber 3 (e.g.,a specific volume of liquid may be delivered to the cartridge 4), orother arrangements. When complete, the user may remove the beverage andreservoir 11 from the lid 12.

FIG. 1 shows only one illustrative embodiment of a beverage makingsystem 1, but other arrangements are possible, including systems thatincorporate other aspects of the invention. For example, in one aspectof the invention, flavoring of a carbonated beverage may be done in anautomated way, and may occur in a cartridge. This feature may make thebeverage formation process easier and more convenient for a user, aswell as help reduce the likelihood of cross contamination betweenbeverages and/or the need to rinse a mixing chamber. That is, by mixinga beverage medium with the precursor liquid in a cartridge (which may bedisposable), each beverage made by the system 1 may effectively be madeusing its own mixing chamber. For example, if a carbonated cherrybeverage is made using the system 1, followed by lemon beverage, theremay be a possibility that the cherry flavor left behind in a mixingchamber will carry over into the subsequent lemon beverage. Rinsing orother cleaning of a mixing chamber can help eliminate or reduce suchflavor cross over, but mixing each beverage in a cartridge may eliminatethe need to rinse a mixing chamber or other system components entirely.

In another aspect of the invention, precursor liquid may be carbonatedusing a contactor (a type of carbonator) that includes a porous membrane(e.g., that is porous at least to gas) having a gas side and a liquidside. Precursor liquid on the liquid side of the carbonator may beexposed to gas on the gas side of the membrane, and since the membranemay be arranged to increase the surface area of the liquid exposed togas, dissolution of carbon dioxide or other gas into the precursorliquid may be done more rapidly than using other techniques. In oneembodiment, the carbonator may include a contactor with a hollow fiberarrangement in which hollow fibers made of a hydrophobic material, suchas polypropylene, carry the precursor liquid. The fibers are porous,having holes that, combined with the hydrophobicity of the material,allow for contact of gas on the exterior of the fibers with the liquidwhile preventing the liquid from exiting the fiber interior. Membranecontactors suitable for such use are made by Membrana of Charlotte,N.C., USA.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a cartridge chamber of abeverage making system may be arranged to hold first and secondcartridge portions where the first cartridge portion contains a carbondioxide source arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for use incarbonating the precursor liquid, and the second cartridge portioncontains a beverage medium arranged to be mixed with a liquid precursorto form a beverage. The cartridge chamber may have a single cartridgereceiving portion for receiving both cartridge portions, or may includea plurality of cartridge receiving portions that are separate from eachother, e.g., for receiving two or more cartridges that are eachassociated with a first or second cartridge portion. Such an arrangementmay help simplify use of the system, particularly where the cartridgeportions are arranged for only a single use, e.g., formation of a singlevolume of beverage and discarded thereafter. For example, a user may beenabled to place one or two cartridges that include the first and secondcartridge portions in receiving portions of the cartridge chamberwithout the need for establishing pressure-tight, leak-proof or otherconnections needed for the system to operate properly. Instead, thecartridge portions may be simply placed in a receiver, and the cartridgechamber closed, making the system ready for beverage production.

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative embodiment that incorporates theaspects of using a membrane contactor to carbonate the precursor liquidwith a cartridge-provided gas, mixing a beverage medium with liquid in acartridge, and the use of a cartridge chamber that receives first andsecond cartridge portions that respectively contain a gas source andbeverage medium. This embodiment is similar to that in FIG. 1 in manyways, and may be modified to have one or more components like that inFIG. 1. However, certain alternate arrangements are shown in FIG. 2 toillustrate another few ways in which a beverage making system 1 may bemodified in accordance with aspects of the invention. In thisembodiment, the reservoir 11 is a closed tank having no removable lid.The reservoir 11 may have any suitable volume, and is fluidly coupled toa pump 13 that can circulate the precursor liquid 2 through a contactor6 and back to the reservoir 11 via a nozzle 14. As discussed above, theprecursor liquid 2 may pass through hollow fibers in the contactor 6 topick up carbon dioxide or other gas around the fibers, but thisarrangement could be reversed, with gas flowing in the fibers and theprecursor liquid 2 located on the exterior of the fibers. A filter 16may be provided to remove materials in the precursor liquid 2 that mightclog the fibers, pores in the fibers or otherwise interfere with theoperation of the contactor 6. Alternately, or in addition, the filter 16may condition the liquid 2, e.g., by softening, removing alkaline orother elements that tend to raise the pH of the liquid 2, by removingelements that may prevent the formation of a good tasting beverage, andso on. For example, the filter 16 may include an activated charcoaland/or other components found in commonly used water filters. Thecontactor 6 may be arranged to have a plurality of hollow fibersextending within a closed tube or other chamber so that the innerpassages of the fibers fluidly connects a fluid inlet of the contactor 6to a fluid outlet. The gas space around the fibers may communicate withthe carbon dioxide supply 30 via one or more ports on the gas side ofthe contactor 6. It should be understood, however, that the contactor 6may be arranged in other ways, such as having one or more membranes inthe form of a flat sheet or other forms other than tubular to define aliquid side and a gas side of the contactor 6.

The activating fluid supply 20 is arranged similarly to that in FIG. 1,with a controllable valve 21 fluidly coupled to an output of the pump13. However, in this embodiment, the activating fluid supply 20introduces liquid near a bottom of the cartridge chamber 3 and thecartridge 4. This arrangement may help the activating fluid supply 20 tobetter control gas release from the carbon dioxide source 41. Forexample, dropping water onto the carbon dioxide source 41 from the topmay allow the water to spread over a wide area, allowing chargedzeolites or other source materials spread over a wide area to releasegas. By providing liquid from below, the activating fluid supply 20 mayflood the cartridge 4 and/or chamber 3, thereby allowing water tocontact source materials 41 starting from the bottom up. This may allowfor closer control of the volume of source materials 41 that areactivated to release gas. In the case that the carbon dioxide source 41can wick or otherwise move water upwardly (such as by capillary action),portions of the source 41 may be separated from each other bynon-wicking agents. For example, the source 41 may include a set ofstacked discs of zeolite material that are separated by a non-wickingmaterial, such as metal or solid plastic separators. This may allow thefluid supply 20 to stepwise increase the fluid level in the cartridge 4over a period of time to sequentially activate individual discs.

Gas produced by the cartridge 4 is routed by the gas supply 30 (via anoptional filter 32 and conduit 31) to the gas side of the contactor 6.The conduit 31 may include a water-buoyant check valve or otherarrangement that allows gas to pass to the contactor 6, but preventsliquid from exiting the cartridge chamber 3. For example, a floatingball in the cartridge chamber 3 may normally leave an opening of theconduit 31 free for gas flow, but may raise upwardly on the surface ofliquid in the cartridge 4 to close the opening, e.g., in case that theactivating fluid supply 20 provides an excess of activating liquid. Thecontroller 5 may monitor the gas pressure in the chamber 3, in theconduit 31 and/or in the gas side of the contactor 6 to control theactivating fluid supply 20 and gas production. In one embodiment, theactivating fluid supply 20 may be controlled to provide approximately35-45 psi gas pressure at the gas side of the contactor 6. This pressurehas been found to work at least adequately in carbonating about 400-500ml of water at a temperature of about 0 degrees C. in about 30-60seconds using a hollow fiber contactor, as described in more detailbelow in the Examples. As carbon dioxide in the contactor is dissolvedinto the precursor liquid 2, the pressure on the gas side will drop,prompting the controller 5 to supply additional liquid 2 to thecartridge 4 a to cause additional gas to be created. Similar to thesystem in FIG. 1, this process may be performed based on any criteria,such as the passage of a specific amount of time, the detection of aspecified level of carbonation of the liquid 2, exhaustion of the carbondioxide source 41, a volume of liquid delivered to the cartridge 4 a,etc., so that a pressure of the carbon dioxide gas can be maintainedwithin a desired range above ambient pressure.

Once carbonation of the precursor liquid 2 is complete, the controller 5may direct the liquid 2 to a beverage medium cartridge 4 b in thecartridge chamber 3. While the precursor liquid 2 may be caused to flowfrom the reservoir 11 in any suitable way (such as by gravity, a pump,etc.), in this embodiment, the controller 5 activates an air pump 7which pressurizes the reservoir 11 such that the precursor liquid 2 isforced to flow via a conduit to the cartridge chamber 3 and the beveragemedium cartridge 4 b. In other embodiments, gas pressure created by thecarbon dioxide source 41 may be used to pressurize the reservoir 11 anddrive the flow of the precursor liquid to the beverage medium cartridge4 b. For example, when carbonation is complete, gas from the cartridge 4a may be routed directly into the reservoir 11 instead of to thecontactor 6 so as to pressurize the reservoir 11. Although no valve isshown in the conduit that fluidly couples the reservoir 11 and thecartridge 4 b, a controllable valve, pump or other suitable componentmay be added to control flow as desired. The use of air or other gas tomove liquid 2 through the cartridge 4 b (or to expel beverage mediumfrom the cartridge 4 b) may allow the system 1 to “blow down” thecartridge 4 b at or near the end of the beverage process, e.g., toremove any remaining material from the cartridge 4 b. This may be usefulin making the cartridge 4 b less messy to handle (e.g., by reducing thelikelihood that the cartridge 4 b will drip when removed from thechamber 3. A similar process may be used to blow down the cartridge 4 a,e.g., using an air pump or gas produced by the source 41.

Flow of the precursor liquid 2 through the beverage medium cartridge 4 bmay cause the liquid 2 to mix with the beverage medium 42 before beingdischarged, e.g., to a waiting cup 8 or other container. The beveragemedium cartridge 4 b may include any suitable beverage making materials(beverage medium), such as concentrated syrups, ground coffee or liquidcoffee extract, tea leaves, dry herbal tea, powdered beverageconcentrate, dried fruit extract or powder, natural and/or artificialflavors or colors, acids, aromas, viscosity modifiers, clouding agents,antioxidants, powdered or liquid concentrated bouillon or other soup,powdered or liquid medicinal materials (such as powdered vitamins,minerals, bioactive ingredients, drugs or other pharmaceuticals,nutriceuticals, etc.), powdered or liquid milk or other creamers,sweeteners, thickeners, and so on. (As used herein, “mixing” of a liquidwith a beverage medium includes a variety of mechanisms, such as thedissolving of substances in the beverage medium in the liquid, theextraction of substances from the beverage medium, and/or the liquidotherwise receiving some material from the beverage medium.) The liquid2 may be introduced into the cartridge 4 b in any suitable way, and/orthe cartridge 4 b may be arranged in any suitable way to aid in mixingof the liquid 2 with the beverage medium 42. For example, the precursorliquid 2 may be introduced into the cartridge 4 b so as to cause aspiral or other flow pattern, the cartridge 4 b may include a labyrinthor other tortuous flow path to cause turbulence in the flow to aid inmixing, and so on. One potential advantage of mixing the precursorliquid 2 in a beverage medium cartridge 4 b is that cross contaminationof beverage medium that may occur with the use of a mixing chamber thatis used to mix beverage medium and liquid 2 for every beverage made bythe system 1 may be avoided. However, the system 1 could be modified toemploy a reused mixing chamber, e.g., a space where beverage medium 42that is provided from a cartridge 4 b and precursor liquid 2 are mixedtogether in much the same way that fountain drinks are formed bycommercial drink machines. For example, the beverage medium 42 could bedriven from the cartridge 4 b (e.g., by air pressure, carbon dioxide gaspressure created by the cartridge 4 a, by gravity, by suction created byan adductor pump, venturi or other arrangement, etc.) into a mixingchamber where the precursor liquid 2 is also introduced. Rinsing of themixing chamber may or may not be necessary, e.g., to help prevent crosscontamination between beverages. In some arrangements, the entire volumeof beverage medium 42 may be discharged into the mixing chamber, causinginitial amounts of flavored precursor liquid 2 exiting the mixingchamber to have a high beverage medium concentration. However, as thebeverage medium 42 is swept from the mixing chamber by the precursorliquid 2, the precursor liquid itself may effectively rinse the mixingchamber.

The embodiment of FIG. 2 could be modified so that flow of precursorliquid 2 exiting the contactor 6 is routed directly to the beveragemedium cartridge 4 b or to another mixing chamber where beverage medium42 is mixed with the carbonated precursor liquid 2, e.g., like thatshown in FIG. 3. That is, in this illustrative embodiment, carbonatedprecursor liquid 2 does not circulate from the reservoir 11, through thecontactor 6 and back to the reservoir 11, but instead precursor liquid 2makes a single pass through the contactor 6 and then proceeds to mixingwith the beverage medium 42 in a mixing chamber 9 and discharge to a cup8. The mixing chamber 9 may take any suitable form, e.g., may cause theprecursor liquid 2 and beverage medium 42 to move in a spiral, swirl orother fashion to enhance mixing, may have one or more motor drivenblades, impellers or other elements to mix contents in the chamber 9,and so on. The mixing chamber 9 may be cooled as well, e.g., by arefrigeration system, to help cool the beverage provided to the cup 8.Alternately, the precursor liquid 2 may be cooled in the reservoir 11and/or any other locations in the system 1. In the case where thecarbonated liquid 2 is not flavored or where the liquid 2 is mixed withthe beverage medium 42 before passing through the carbonator 6, themixing chamber 9 may be eliminated or arranged to mix the precursorliquid 2 and beverage medium 42 upstream of the contactor 6.Alternately, the precursor liquid supply 10 may be arranged to mix theprecursor liquid 2 with the beverage medium 42 in the cartridge 4 bprior to routing the liquid 2 to the contactor 6. The controller 5 maydetect the gas pressure on the gas side of the contactor 6, and controlfluid supply to the cartridge 4 a accordingly, e.g., to maintain asuitable gas pressure in the contactor 6. The reservoir 11 may be awater storage tank that is not pressurized in this embodiment, and maybe removable from the system 1, e.g., to make filling by a user easier.The user may add ice and/or beverage medium to the precursor liquid 2 inthe reservoir 11, if desired. Alternately, the reservoir 11 and pump 13may be replaced by a plumbed connection to a pressurized water supplyand an optional control valve and/or pressure reducer. Of course, aswith other embodiments, the system 1 may be suitably enclosed in ahousing having a visible display, user input buttons, knobs, or touchscreen, user-operated devices for opening/closing a cartridge chamber,and other features found in beverage making machines.

Other arrangements for a beverage forming system 1 are possible, such asthat shown in FIG. 4. In this illustrative embodiment, the cartridgechamber 3 is combined with the reservoir 11 such that the cartridge 4 ahaving a carbon dioxide source 41 is located in the reservoir 11. Thecartridge 4 a may be placed in the reservoir 11/cartridge chamber 3 byremoving the lid 12 from the reservoir 11. Liquid may be provided to thecartridge 4 a by any suitable activating fluid supply 20, such as anarrangement like that in FIG. 1, a syringe or piston pump that deliversa metered amount of liquid to the cartridge 4 a, and others. In thisembodiment, the carbon dioxide supply 30 is combined with the reservoir11 such that a portion of the reservoir functions to deliver carbondioxide gas to the precursor liquid 2. The pump 13 may aid thecarbonation process by circulating the liquid 2 and spraying the liquid2 into a carbon dioxide-filled headspace in the reservoir 11. In anotherembodiment, a contactor 6 may be provided in the reservoir 11 (e.g., atthe location of the nozzle 14) so that the liquid 2 flows through hollowfibers extending downwardly from the lid 12 while carbon dioxide in theheadspace is absorbed by the liquid while passing through the fibers. Inyet another arrangement, the membrane portion of a contactor 6 may be atleast partially submerged in the precursor liquid 2, and gas from thesource 41 may be passed through hollow fibers of the contactor 6. As aresult, the liquid 2 on the outside of the fibers may pick up carbondioxide from the gas passing through the fibers.

While the cartridge chamber 3 may be arranged in any suitable way, FIG.5 shows one illustrative arrangement in which both a carbon dioxidesource cartridge 4 a and a beverage medium cartridge 4 b can be receivedby the same cartridge chamber 3. In this embodiment, the cartridges 4 a,4 b (which respectively have a portion that contains a gas source 41 andbeverage medium 42) are received in separate cartridge receivers 33, andeach cartridge receiver 33 may include a piercing element 34 at a bottomof the cartridge receiver 33. The piercing element 34, which may includea hollow needle, spike, blade, knife or other arrangement, may form anopening in the respective cartridge 4. Alternately, the cartridges 4 mayhave defined openings, e.g., one or more ports, that include a septum orother valve-type element that permits flow into and/or out of thecartridge 4. Similarly, the lid 12 may include piercing element 35 thatform an opening in the top of the respective cartridge 4, e.g., when thelid 12 is closed. When closed, the lid 12 may form a sealed chamber inwhich the cartridges 4 a, 4 b are located and isolated from each other.The openings formed in the cartridges 4 a, 4 b may allow forcommunication with the interior space of the cartridges 4 a, 4 b asoutlined in FIG. 5. For example, an opening at the top of the cartridge4 a may allow carbon dioxide or other gas to exit the cartridge chamber3, while the opening at the bottom of the cartridge 4 a may allow forwater or other activating fluid to enter the cartridge 4 a. Of course,the openings may be formed in other locations, such as an opening forallowing fluid input to occur at the top or side of the cartridge.Likewise, gas may exit the cartridge through a bottom, side or otherwiselocated opening. As mentioned above, gas may be permitted to leak fromthe cartridge 4 a into the space in the cartridge chamber 3 around thecartridge 4 a, e.g., through the opening in the cartridge 4 a, through ahole or other opening in the piercing element 35, etc. This may allowthe pressure around the cartridge to equalize with the pressure insidethe cartridge during gas production, helping to prevent bursting of thecartridge 4 a. Alternately, the cartridge 4 a may fit closely into thecartridge receiver 33 so that the cartridge chamber 3 can support thecartridge 4 a (if necessary). The opening in the top of the beveragemedium cartridge 4 b may allow for precursor liquid 2 to be introducedinto the cartridge 4 b (e.g., for mixing with the beverage medium), orfor pressurized air or other gas to enter the cartridge (e.g., forforcing the beverage medium 42 from the cartridge 4 b and into a mixingchamber). The opening at the bottom of the cartridge 4 b may allow forbeverage to exit to a waiting cup or other container, or for thebeverage medium to travel to a mixing chamber. As with the cartridge 4a, opening in the beverage medium cartridge 42 may be arranged in anysuitable location or locations.

The cartridge chamber 3 may open and close in any suitable way to allowcartridges 4 to be placed in and/or removed from the chamber 3. In theFIG. 5 embodiment, the lid 12 is pivotally mounted to the receiverportion of the chamber 3, and may be opened and closed manually, such asby a handle and linkage arrangement, or automatically, such as by amotor drive, to close the cartridge receivers 33. In other embodiments,the lid 12 may have two or more sections that are each associated with arespective cartridge receiver 33. Thus, the lid sections can be movedindependently of each other to open/close the cartridge receivers 33. Ofcourse, the lid 12 may be arranged in other ways, such as being engagedwith the receivers 33 by a threaded connection (like a screw cap), bythe receivers 33 moving away and toward the lid 12 while the lid 12remains stationary, by both the lid and receiver portion moving, and soon. In addition, a cartridge chamber 3 need not necessarily have a lidand receiver arrangement like that shown in FIG. 5, but instead may haveany suitable member or members that cooperate to open/close and supporta cartridge. For example, a pair of clamshell members may be movablerelative to each other to allow receipt of a cartridge and physicalsupport of the cartridge. Some other illustrative cartridge chamberarrangements are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,142,063;6,606,938; 6,644,173; and 7,165,488. As mentioned above, the cartridgechamber 3 may allow a user to place one or more cartridges in thechamber 3 without the need for the user to take special steps toestablish a pressure-tight, leak-proof or other specialized connectionbetween the cartridge and other portions of the system 1. Instead, insome embodiments, the user may be able to simply place the cartridge ina receiving space, and close the cartridge chamber.

The cartridges 4 used in various embodiments may be arranged in anysuitable way, such as a relatively simple frustoconical cup-shapedcontainer having a lid attached to the top of the container, e.g., likethat in some beverage cartridges sold by Keurig, Incorporated ofReading, Mass. and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,189, for example. In oneembodiment, a cartridge having a frustoconical cup-shaped container andlid may have an approximate diameter of about 30-50 mm, a height ofabout 30-50 mm, an internal volume of about 30-60 ml, and a burstresistance of about 80 psi (i.e., a resistance to cartridge bursting inthe presence of a pressure gradient of about 80 psi from the inside tooutside of the cartridge in the absence of any physical support for thecartridge). However, as used herein, a “cartridge” may take any suitableform, such as a pod (e.g., opposed layers of filter paper encapsulatinga material), capsule, sachet, package, or any other arrangement. Thecartridge may have a defined shape, or may have no defined shape (as isthe case with some sachets or other packages made entirely of flexiblematerial. The cartridge may be impervious to air and/or liquid, or mayallow water and/or air to pass into the cartridge. The cartridge mayinclude a filter or other arrangement, e.g., in the beverage mediumcartridge 4 b to help prevent some portions of the beverage medium frombeing provided with the formed beverage, and/or in the gas cartridge 4 ato help prevent carbon dioxide source material from being introducedinto the beverage or other system components.

In one aspect of the invention, the cartridge or cartridges used to forma beverage using the beverage making system may have a volume that isless, and in some cases substantially less, than a beverage to be madeusing the cartridge(s). For example, if carbon dioxide and beveragemedium cartridges 4 are used, the cartridges may each have a volume thatis about 50 ml or less, and be used to form a beverage having a volumeof about 200-500 ml or more. The inventors have found (as shown in someof the Examples below) that an amount of charged carbon dioxideadsorbent (e.g., a charged zeolite) of about 30 grams (which has avolume of less than 30 ml) can be used to produce about 400-500 ml ofcarbonated water having a carbonation level of up to about 3.5 volumes.Moreover, it is well known that beverage-making syrups having a volumeof less than 50 ml can be used to make a suitably flavored beveragehaving a volume of about 400-500 ml. Thus, relatively small volumecartridges (or a single cartridge in some arrangements) having a volumeof about 100 ml or less may be used to form a carbonated beverage havinga volume of about 100 to 1000 ml, and a carbonation level of about 1.5to 4 volumes in less than 120 seconds, e.g., about 60 seconds, and usingpressures under 50 psi.

While the carbon dioxide and beverage medium cartridges 4 can beprovided separately, in one embodiment, the cartridges 4 may be joinedtogether, like that shown in FIG. 6. The cartridges 4 a, 4 b may beconnected together by any suitable arrangement, such as tabs 43 thatextend from respective cartridges 4 a, 4 b and are attached together,e.g., by thermal welding, adhesive, interlocking mechanical fastenerssuch as snaps or clips, etc. This arrangement may allow the cartridges 4a, 4 b to be made separately in the manufacturing setting, e.g., becausethe cartridges require very different processes for manufacturing. Forexample, the beverage medium cartridge 4 b may require a highly sterileenvironment, whereas the gas cartridges 4 a need not be made in such anenvironment. In contrast, the gas cartridges 4 a may need to bemanufactured in a water vapor-free environment, whereas the beveragemedium cartridge 4 b may not be subject to such requirements. Aftermanufacture of the cartridges 4 a, 4 b, the cartridges may be attachedtogether in a way that prevents their separation without the use oftools (such as a scissor) and/or damage to one or both of thecartridges. The cartridge chamber 3 may be arranged to accommodate theattached cartridges, allowing a user to place a single item in thechamber 3 to form a beverage. In addition, the cartridges 4 and/or theway in which the cartridges are attached, together with the arrangementof the cartridge chamber 3 may help ensure that the gas cartridge 4 aand beverage medium cartridge 4 b are placed in the proper cartridgereceiver 33. For example, the cartridges 4 may have different sizes,shapes or other configurations so that the combined cartridges 4 cannotbe placed into the chamber 3 in the wrong orientation. Alternately, thecontroller 5 may detect that the cartridges have been improperly placed(e.g., by communicating with an RFID tag on one or both of thecartridges, by optically or otherwise identifying the cartridges, etc.),and prompt the user to make a change as necessary.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show another embodiment in which a pair of cartridges arejoined together in a way that helps prevent improper placement of thecartridges in a chamber and/or enables the cartridges to operate inother orientations. As shown in FIG. 7, the cartridges 4 a and 4 b areattached by a connection 43 such that with the cartridge 4 a arranged inan upright orientation with the container bottom 44 facing downward andthe lid 45 covering the top of the container facing upward, thecartridge 4 b is on its side with the lid 45 facing to the side. FIG. 8shows a top view of the embodiment, with the lid 45 of the cartridge 4 afacing the viewer and the lid 45 of the cartridge 4 b facing downwardly.This arrangement may be useful in embodiments where the cartridges 4 arepierced only at the lid area, e.g., are not pierced in the bottom 44 orother portions of the container. That is, the gas cartridge 4 a may bepierced at the lid 45 to allow liquid to be introduced into thecartridge 4 a, and to allow gas to exit. Similarly, the lid 45 of thecartridge 4 b may be pierced to allow liquid to be introduced into thecartridge 4 b for mixing with the beverage medium 42 and to allow aflavored beverage to exit the cartridge 4 b. Avoiding piercing of thecontainer may be useful in arrangements where the container is made of arelatively thick and/or rigid material (e.g., to withstand operatingpressures for the cartridge 4).

In another aspect of the invention, a single cartridge may be used toprovide a carbonating gas as well as a beverage medium. In fact, in someembodiments, the precursor liquid can be both carbonated and flavored inthe same cartridge. For example, FIG. 9 shows a cross sectional view ofa cartridge 4 that includes both a gas source 41 (e.g., a zeolite carbondioxide source) and a beverage medium 42. In this embodiment, thecartridge 4 includes first and second chambers (or portions) 46, 47 thatrespectively contain the gas source 41 and the beverage medium 42. Thefirst and second chambers (or portions) 46, 47 may be separated fromeach other by a permeable element, such as a filter, or an impermeableelement, such as a wall molded with the cartridge container. In thisembodiment, the first and second chambers (or portions) 46, 47 areseparated by a filter 48 that is attached to the lid 45, but could bearranged in other ways. Precursor liquid and/or an activating liquid maybe introduced into the first chamber 46 by a piercing element 35 orother arrangement, such as a port formed as part of the cartridge 4. Theinterior space of the cartridge 4 may be maintained under pressure,e.g., 30-150 psi above ambient or greater, so that dissolution of carbondioxide gas released by the source 41 occurs more rapidly than wouldoccur at lower pressures. In addition, the system 1 arranged to use suchcartridges may include a backpressure valve or other arrangement thathelps to maintain a suitable pressure in the cartridge 4, e.g., as anaid to carbonation. As mentioned above, a cartridge chamber 3 that holdsthe cartridge 4 may be arranged to closely fit the cartridge 4 as neededto support the cartridge and prevent the cartridge from bursting.Alternately, pressure in the cartridge 4 may be allowed to leak into aspace around the cartridge 4 to equalize the pressures inside andoutside of the cartridge. Carbonated precursor liquid 2 and/or aliquid/gas bubble mixture may pass through the filter 48 into the secondchamber 47 for mixing with the beverage medium 42. Thereafter, theprecursor liquid 2 and beverage medium 42 mixture may exit the cartridge4, e.g., through a piercing element 34 at the container bottom 44.Dissolution of carbon dioxide into the precursor liquid 2, as well asmixing of the beverage medium 42 with the liquid 2, may continue afterthe materials exit the cartridge 4. For example, a mixing chamber may belocated downstream of the cartridge 4 to help more thoroughly mix thebeverage medium and liquid if needed. Also, a conduit downstream of thecartridge may help continue dissolution of gas, e.g., by maintainingpressure in the liquid.

In the embodiments above, the cartridge 4 has been described to have adefined bottom and top with the cartridge operating in an uprightconfiguration. However, as suggested in connection with FIGS. 7 and 8, acartridge may be operated in any suitable orientation. For example, FIG.10 shows an embodiment in which a cartridge configured like that in FIG.9 is used while the cartridge 4 is on its side. (Note that the cartridge4 b in FIGS. 7 and 8 may be used in a similar way to that shown in FIG.10.) Precursor liquid may be introduced into the first chamber (orportion) 46 (e.g., via the piercing element 35), causing the gas source41 to emit gas and at least partially flooding the cartridge 4 interiorspace. As with the FIG. 9 embodiment, the liquid may be carbonated andmix with the beverage medium 42 before exiting the cartridge, e.g., viathe piercing element 34.

As also mentioned above, a single cartridge 4 may be arranged to havefirst and second chambers 46, 47 that are isolated from each other. FIG.11 shows one such embodiment in which first and second chambers (orportions) 46, 47 are separated by a wall 49. A cartridge like that shownin FIG. 11 may be used, for example, in a system 1 like that shown inFIG. 2, although the cartridge chamber 3 may need to be modified toaccommodate the single cartridge 4. As shown in FIG. 11, in oneembodiment, activating liquid may be provided via a piercing element 35at a top of the first chamber (or portion) 46, and gas may exit via thesame or a different opening. Alternately, activating liquid may beintroduced via the piercing element 34 at the bottom of the firstchamber (or portion) 46, and gas may exit via the piercing element 35 atthe top. In yet another embodiment, precursor liquid may be introducedat the top piercing element 35 and carbonated liquid may exit via thebottom piercing element 34. The first chamber (or portion) 46 mayinclude a filter or other suitable components, e.g., to help prevent thegas source 41 from exiting the chamber (or portion) 46. Regarding thesecond chamber (or portion) 47, air or other gas may be introduced viathe piercing element 35 at a top of the second chamber (or portion) 47,causing beverage medium 42 to be moved out of the piercing element 34 atthe bottom of the second chamber (or portion) 47. Alternately, precursorliquid may be introduced via the piercing element 35 at a top of thesecond chamber 47, may mix with the beverage medium 42 and exit thecartridge 4 out of the piercing element 34. As discussed above, thepiercing element 34, 35 arrangement in this illustrative embodimentshould not be interpreted as limiting aspects of the invention in anyway. That is, piercing elements need not be used, but instead flowinto/out of the cartridge 4 may occur through defined ports or otheropenings in the cartridge 4. Also, flow ports or other openings in thecartridge need not necessarily be located at the top, bottom or otherspecific location.

The cartridge(s) may be made of any suitable materials, and are notlimited to the container and lid constructions shown herein. Forexample, the cartridge(s) may be made of, or otherwise include,materials that provide a barrier to moisture and/or gases, such asoxygen, water vapor, etc. In one embodiment, the cartridge(s) may bemade of a polymer laminate, e.g., formed from a sheet including a layerof polystyrene or polypropylene and a layer of EVOH and/or other barriermaterial, such as a metallic foil. Moreover, the cartridge(s) materialsand/or construction may vary according to the materials contained in thecartridge. For example, a gas cartridge 4 a may require a robustmoisture barrier, whereas a beverage medium cartridge 4 b may notrequire such a high moisture resistance. Thus, the cartridges may bemade of different materials and/or in different ways. In addition, thecartridge interior may be differently constructed according to a desiredfunction. For example, a beverage medium cartridge 4 b may includebaffles or other structures that cause the liquid/beverage medium tofollow a tortuous path so as to encourage mixing. The gas cartridge 4 amay be arranged to hold the gas source 41 in a particular location orother arrangement in the interior space, e.g., to help control wettingof the source 41 with activating liquid.

Example 1

The release properties of a carbon dioxide adsorbent were measured inthe following way: 8×12 beads of sodium zeolite 13X (such as arecommercially available from UOP MOLSIV Adsorbents) were obtained. Thebeads were placed in a ceramic dish and fired in a Vulcan D550 furnacemanufactured by Ceramco. The temperature in the furnace containing thebeads was raised to 550° C. at a rate of 3° C./min and was held at 550°C. for 5 hours for firing and preparation of the beads for charging withcarbon dioxide.

The beads were removed from the furnace and immediately transferred to ametal container equipped with a tightly fitted lid and entrance and exitports permitting circulation of gas. With the beads sealed in thecontainer, the container was flooded with carbon dioxide gas andpressurized to 15 psig. (Note, however, that experiments have beenperformed between 5-32 psig.) The chamber was held at the set pressurefor 1 hour. During this hold period the chamber was bled every 15 min.At the end of this period a quantity of gas had adsorbed to the beads.

A 30 g sample of charged 13X zeolite was measured, and a beaker filledwith 250 ml of water at room temperature of 22° C. The beaker and waterwas placed on a balance and the balance zeroed. The 30 g of chargedzeolite was then added to the beaker and the change in weight versustime was measured. It was shown that the change in weight becameapproximately steady after a period of 50 seconds, and that the beadslost about 4.2 g (14 wt %) of weight attributed to the release of carbondioxide. Of course, some carbon dioxide may have been dissolved into thewater.

Time (sec) Weight (grams) 0 30 25 26.7 50 25.8 75 25.6 100 25.5

Example 2

Charged zeolite 13X was prepared as in Example 1. A 30 g sample of thecharged zeolites was then placed in metal chamber with a water inletport at the bottom and a gas outlet port at the top. The chamber thatheld the zeolites was 34×34 mm in cross section and had 2 metal filterdiscs with 64 1/16″ diameter holes to retain the zeolite material. Tapwater was then flooded into the bottom of the chamber perpendicular tothe cross-section at an average flow rate of 60 ml/min. Gas evolvedthrough the top outlet port.

The pressure of the gas in the chamber was measured with a pressuregauge and controlled using a needle valve attached to the exit port ofthe gas chamber. The needle valve was set to maintain the chamber at apressure of 35 psig by manually adjusting the valve over the course ofexposing charged zeolites in the chamber to water. Once the valve wasset to an operating pressure, the system would perform repeatably withzeolite samples charged in the same manner.

Example 3

Charged zeolite 13X was prepared as in Example 1. A 30 g sample of thecharged zeolites was then placed in a semi rigid 50 mlpolystyrene-polyethylene-EVOH laminate cup container and thermallysealed with a foil lid. The sealed zeolite cartridges were then placedinto a sealed, metal cartridge chamber and pierced on the top andbottom.

Tap water was introduced at the bottom of the cartridge with the flowcontrolled by a solenoid valve. The solenoid valve was actuated via apressure switch connected to the top gas outlet of the cartridgechamber. During three different tests, the pressure switch was set tothree different operating pressures of 5, 22, and 35 psig. The resultinggas at the set pressures was then introduced into the shellside of ahydrophobic membrane contactor (1×5.5 Minimodule from Liquicel, ofCharlotte, N.C.). The other shellside port was plugged to prevent gasfrom escaping. Water from a reservoir containing 400 ml of water andapproximately 50 g of ice was circulated from the reservoir, through thecontactor, and back to the reservoir (e.g., like that shown in FIG. 2)using an Ulka (Milan, Italy) type EAX 5 vibratory pump through thelumenside of the membrane contactor. The pressure of the reservoir andcontactor was maintained at the same pressure as the gas was produced.The system produced gas and circulated the water for approximately 60seconds before being stopped.

The resulting carbonated water was then tested for carbonation levelsusing a CarboQC from Anton-Paar of Ashland, Va. The results for areshown in the table below:

Average Carbonation Level System Pressure (psig) (Volumes CO₂ dissolved)10 1.35 22 2.53 35 3.46

Thus, the gas was shown to evolve from the zeolites in the cartridges ata controllable rate (based on water delivery to the cartridge chamber)and then dissolved into water to produce a carbonated beverage. Inaddition, this illustrates the concept that by controlling systempressures one can control the level of carbonation of the finishedbeverage. It is expected that higher system pressures, e.g., of about40-50 psi above ambient, would produce a 4 volume carbonated beverage(having a liquid volume of about 500 ml) in about 60 seconds or less.

Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of thisinvention, it is to be appreciated that various alterations,modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled inthe art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intendedto be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spiritand scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description anddrawings are by way of example only.

1. A beverage making system, comprising: a beverage precursor liquidsupply arranged to provide a precursor liquid; a cartridge chamberarranged to hold first and second cartridge portions; a first cartridgeportion in the cartridge chamber, the first cartridge portion containinga carbon dioxide source arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for use incarbonating the precursor liquid; and a second cartridge portion in thecartridge chamber, the second cartridge portion containing a beveragemedium arranged to be mixed with a liquid precursor to form a beverage;wherein the system is arranged to carbonate the precursor liquid usingthe carbon dioxide gas emitted by the first cartridge portion and to mixthe beverage medium of the second cartridge portion with the precursorliquid.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a carbon dioxideactivating fluid supply arranged to provide fluid to the cartridgechamber for contact with the carbon dioxide source to cause the carbondioxide source to emit carbon dioxide gas.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the system mixes the beverage medium with precursor liquid toform a beverage such that none of the beverage contacts the carbondioxide source.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the system is arrangedto pass carbonated precursor liquid through the second chamber to mixthe carbonated precursor liquid with the beverage medium.
 5. The systemof claim 1, further comprising: a carbon dioxide gas supply arranged toconduct carbon dioxide gas emitted by the carbon dioxide source, underpressure greater than the ambient pressure, to beverage precursor liquidprovided via the beverage precursor liquid supply to carbonate theprecursor liquid.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising: acarbonator that includes a membrane that separates a liquid side from agas side of the carbonator, where the carbon dioxide gas is provided tothe gas side and the beverage precursor liquid supply provides precursorliquid to the liquid side such that carbon dioxide on the gas side isdissolved in the precursor liquid on the liquid side.
 7. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the precursor liquid supply includes a reservoir and apump that moves precursor liquid from the reservoir through thecarbonator.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the cartridge chamber isarranged to hold at least the first cartridge portion in the cartridgechamber under a pressure that is greater than an ambient pressure. 9.The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second cartridge portionsare each part of respective first and second cartridges that aredistinct from each other.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the firstand second cartridge portions are part of a single cartridge and thefirst and second cartridge portions are separated from each other. 11.The system of claim 10, wherein the first and second cartridge portionsare separated by a permeable element.
 12. The system of claim 10,wherein the first and second cartridge portions are separated by animpermeable element.
 13. The system of claim 1, further comprising: acarbon dioxide activating fluid supply arranged to control an amount offluid provided to the cartridge chamber to control an amount of carbondioxide gas produced by the carbon dioxide source.
 14. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the first and cartridge portions each has a volume thatis less than a volume of carbonated beverage to be formed using thecartridge portions.
 15. The system of claim 1, wherein the system isarranged to use the first and second cartridge portions over a period oftime less than about 120 seconds to form a carbonated liquid having avolume of between 100-1000 ml and a carbonation level of about 2 to 4volumes.
 16. The system of claim 1, wherein the carbon dioxide source isin solid form.
 17. The system of claim 1, wherein the cartridge chamberincludes first and second receiving portions that respectively receivethe first and second cartridge portions.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein the first and second receiving portions are separated and can beopened and closed independent of each other.
 19. The system of claim 1,wherein a cartridge associated with the first and second cartridgeportions is pierced while in the cartridge chamber.
 20. A method forforming a beverage, comprising: providing first and second cartridgeportions in a cartridge chamber, the first cartridge portion containinga carbon dioxide source arranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for use incarbonating a liquid, and the second cartridge portion containing abeverage medium arranged to be mixed with a liquid precursor to form abeverage; providing a fluid to the cartridge chamber to cause the carbondioxide source to emit carbon dioxide; carbonating a precursor liquid bydissolving at least a portion of the carbon dioxide emitted from thecarbon dioxide source in the precursor liquid; and mixing the precursorliquid with a beverage medium to produce a beverage.
 21. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the carbon dioxide source is in solid form in thefirst cartridge portion.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the carbondioxide source is a charged zeolite.
 23. The method of claim 20, whereinthe step of carbonating includes providing carbon dioxide gas to areservoir that contains precursor liquid.
 24. The method of claim 20,wherein the step of carbonating includes providing carbon dioxide fromthe carbon dioxide source to a gas side of a membrane such that carbondioxide on the gas side is dissolved in the precursor liquid on a liquidside of the membrane.
 25. The method of claim 20, further comprisingpiercing a cartridge associated with the first cartridge portion using abeverage making machine to provide fluid to the cartridge.
 26. Themethod of claim 20, wherein the first and second cartridge portions areeach part of respective first and second cartridges that are distinctfrom each other.
 27. The method of claim 20, further comprisingcontrolling an amount of fluid provided to the first cartridge portionto control carbon dioxide gas production by the carbon dioxide source.28. The method of claim 27, wherein the step of controlling an amountcomprises controlling the amount of fluid provided to the firstcartridge portion to maintain a pressure of gas produced by the carbondioxide source to be in a desired range above an ambient pressure. 29.The method of claim 27, wherein the carbon dioxide source includes acharged zeolite, and the step of controlling an amount comprisescontrolling liquid provided to the first cartridge portion so as tocause the charged zeolite to emit carbon dioxide over a period of atleast 30 seconds.
 30. The method of claim 20, further comprising: mixingthe precursor liquid with the beverage medium in the second cartridgeportion.
 31. The method of claim 20, wherein the first and secondcartridge portions have a volume that is less than a volume ofcarbonated beverage to be formed using the cartridge portions.
 32. Themethod of claim 20, wherein the steps of providing a fluid andcarbonating are performed over a period of time less than about 120seconds to form a carbonated liquid having a volume of between 100-1000ml and a carbonation level of about 2 to 4 volumes.
 33. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the first and second cartridge portions are part of asingle cartridge and the first and second cartridge portions areseparated from each other.
 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the firstand second cartridge portions are separated by a permeable element. 35.The method of claim 33, wherein the first and second cartridge portionsare separated by an impermeable element. 36-71. (canceled)
 72. A kit forforming a beverage, comprising: a first cartridge including an internalspace that is sealed and contains a carbon dioxide source in theinternal space, the carbon dioxide source being in solid form andarranged to emit carbon dioxide gas for use in carbonating a precursorliquid, the first cartridge being arranged to have an inlet throughwhich fluid is provided to activate the carbon dioxide source and anoutlet through which carbon dioxide gas exits the first cartridge; and asecond cartridge including an internal space that is sealed and containsa beverage medium for use in mixing with the precursor liquid to form abeverage.
 73. The kit of claim 72, wherein the first cartridge ispiercable by a beverage making machine to form the inlet and accommodatean inflow of liquid and is piercable to form the outlet.
 74. The kit ofclaim 72, wherein the first and second cartridges each have a volumethat is less than a volume of beverage to be formed using the first andsecond cartridges.
 75. The kit of claim 72, wherein the second cartridgeis arranged to accommodate a flow of precursor liquid through the secondcartridge to mix the beverage medium with the precursor liquid.
 76. Thekit of claim 72, wherein the first and second cartridges are joinedtogether.
 77. The kit of claim 76, wherein the first and secondcartridges are joined together such that the cartridges cannot beseparated from each other, without use of tools, without damaging atleast a portion of the first or second cartridge.
 78. The kit of claim76, wherein the first and second cartridges are joined by a welded jointor by interlocking mechanical fasteners.
 79. The kit of claim 72,wherein the second cartridge is piercable by a beverage making machineto form an inlet and an outlet to accommodate a flow of precursor liquidthrough the second cartridge to mix the beverage medium with theprecursor liquid.
 80. The kit of claim 72, wherein the carbon dioxidesource includes a charged zeolite.
 81. A cartridge for forming abeverage, comprising: a container including an internal space that issealed and contains a carbon dioxide source in the internal space, thecarbon dioxide source being in solid form and arranged to emit carbondioxide gas for use in carbonating a precursor liquid, the containerbeing arranged to have an inlet through which fluid is provided toactivate the carbon dioxide source and an outlet through which carbondioxide gas exits the container for use in carbonating the precursorliquid.
 82. The cartridge of claim 81, wherein the container ispiercable by a beverage making machine to form the inlet and to form theoutlet.
 83. The cartridge of claim 81, wherein the container has atleast one portion that is semi-rigid or flexible.
 84. The cartridge ofclaim 81, wherein the container includes a second chamber that containsa beverage medium for use in flavoring the precursor liquid to form abeverage.
 85. The cartridge of claim 84, wherein the second chamber isisolated from a first chamber in which the carbon dioxide source iscontained.
 86. The cartridge of claim 81, wherein the inlet is locatednear a bottom of the container and the outlet is located near a top ofthe container.
 87. The cartridge of claim 81, wherein the container hasa volume that is less than a volume of carbonated beverage to be formedusing the cartridge.
 88. The cartridge of claim 81, wherein thecontainer includes a lid that closes an opening of the container. 89.The cartridge of claim 88, wherein the lid is arranged to be pierced bya beverage making machine to form the inlet and the outlet.
 90. Thecartridge of claim 81, wherein the carbon dioxide source is a chargedzeolite. 91-120. (canceled)